8/12/2008 @ 4:31PM

Convention Cutting

Forget April. For bean counters at financially troubled newspapers, August is the cruelest month.

Their budget-stretching began with coverage of the Beijing Olympics, which ends Aug. 24. A day later, the Democratic National Convention kicks off in Denver, and the Republican National Convention begins Sept. 1 in St. Paul, Minn. The result is predictable.

“Almost every large news bureau, with maybe a few exceptions, is cutting back,” says Jerry Gallegos, superintendent of the House of Representatives’ daily press gallery, which is handling newspapers’ convention credentials. In some cases, though he won’t say which ones, papers have reduced their staffing “by as much as 20%.”

Seems the press is being forced to figure out what the public has long known: Obamamania or not, few made-for-media events are as predictable as the overscripted circus of modern American political conventions. Faced with tough budget decisions, newspapers are making a smart move by trimming back on coverage readers can likely do without.

In 2004, with the U.S. embroiled in two wars, just 15.5 million homes tuned in to the Democratic convention at some point and 16.8 million watched the Republican convention, according to Nielsen Media Research. In 1992, 20 million followed the Republican confab, and 20.5 million watched the Democratic event–the highest viewership of a political convention since 1984. By contrast, American Idol drew audiences of 27 million for a single episode.

This year, USA Today, published by
Gannett
, is sending 34 journalists to each convention, and Dow Jones will have 23 reporters in both Denver and St. Paul. The L.A. Times plans to have 15 journalists at each event, working in concert with other reporters from its parent company,
Tribune Co.
.

The New York Times Company
wouldn’t provide numbers for its convention staffing, but a spokeswoman said the company anticipated sending fewer people. The
Washington Post
did not respond to requests for comment.

Ad revenue for major newspaper companies continues to plummet. In the second quarter, the New York Times Company reported ad revenues fell 10.6% and total revenues fell 6%, compared to last year. Washington Post advertising revenue in the first six months of 2008 declined 17%. Both companies have offered employees buyouts as a way to trim costs.

Yet none of the newspapers we talked to cut back on coverage of the Beijing Olympics. New York Times Company spokeswoman Abbe Ruttenberg Serphos says the company is “devoting more resources to these Olympic Games than to any other recent Olympics.” The Times has more than two dozen reporters covering the event, in addition to its reporting staff permanently based in China.

Others are doing the same. USA Today has 41 journalists in Beijing, a figure that’s “roughly comparable” to previous Olympics, says spokeswoman Alex Nicholson. Dow Jones spokesman Robert Christie says the company has “nearly two dozen” journalists covering the Olympics in addition to its Hong Kong bureau. The L.A. Times has roughly 15 reporters covering the Games.

Good move. According to NBC, which is broadcasting the Beijing Games, an average of 34.2 million viewers tuned in for the opening ceremony of the Olympics last Friday evening–the highest viewership ever for a non-U.S. Olympics. On average, the last three presidential elections have only drawn about 15.7 million viewers for both conventions, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Election coverage has been particularly expensive for news outlets this year because of the length of the Democratic primary contest. The back-to-back nature of the conventions this year means news outlets have the expense of running newsrooms in Denver and St. Paul almost simultaneously. Usually, they have the luxury of using much of the same equipment at both conventions because the events are spaced far enough apart.

There’s also an additional cost in Denver, with 75,000-seat INVESCO Field as the main venue on the final night instead of the Pepsi Center, where most other convention events will take place. Any newspaper wanting its operation wired at INVESCO will have to pay separate fees for Internet, phone and broadcast cable. Data provider
Qwest Communications
is already charging media outlets $1,395 for a single Internet line and phone with long-distance service for the week.

As for the hand-wringing that the conventions won’t be well covered, officials expect 15,000 journalists at each one–about the same as in 2004 and 2000. That group includes a growing number of bloggers, and Gallegos says he’s seeing an influx of credential requests from foreign media groups, particularly those in Africa and Asia. More than 120 bloggers got passes for Denver, compared with about 30 at the 2004 Democratic convention. The GOP event will host 200 credentialed bloggers, compared with just 12 in 2004.